Baby, It's Cold Outside
by xxignoredxx
Summary: - "I take it back – this is the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten." HPXRW FLUFF EVERYWHERE


**A/N**: Okay, so here's a nice Christmas story for all of you! I am in such a happy Christmas mood this year, so this story will probably be really fluffy, and not the usual angst I do. Everyone should be happy on Christmas. (:

**ALSO:** this takes place in the third year.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Ron Weasly, Harry Potter, the series Harry Potter, any of the Weasly family, or anything to do with Harry Potter.

**Summary**: _In Which _Ron gives an unexpected present.

**[][][][]**

The tree was tall and full and the best thing Harry had ever seen. He just sat in the chair that Dad usually sat in, staring at the bright lights on the branches for hours, enchanted by the very idea of it. There were even presents under the tree for him, which he had nearly burst into tears when Mum had happily pointed them out.

I stood in the doorway, staring at Harry, who was still staring happily at the tree in front of him. I had been standing here for quite a while and the heels of my feet were starting to hurt. I cleared my throat and Harry jumped, quickly turning his head toward me. His cheeks turned slightly red as he pretended to cough and looked at the tree again.

"How long have you been standing there?" Harry asked, slightly embarrassed.

"A while," I said through a yawn and a stretch. I moved to sit in the chair next to Harry, staring at the tree with him.

"The tree is just so pretty,"

"Pretty enough to stare at until one in the morning?" I asked with a slight laugh.

"I never really had a tree with the Dursley's," Harry said. I looked over at him, puzzled. He rolled his eyes at my expression. "They had a tree every year, but I couldn't enjoy it since they had me in the kitchen or in the cupboard all the time. This is the first time I've actually sat in front of a Christmas tree and just stared at all the lights."

I nodded my head, comfortable silence settling over us. The tree was nothing special, but if Harry liked it then it must be good.

We sat there for a while, but of us in our own thoughts while staring at the coloured tree in front of us. It felt like we were having a bonding moment, but I couldn't be sure. It felt like we had a lot of those, considering the majority of our friendship was 'bonding material'.

"So what do you think your mum got me for Christmas?" Harry said suddenly while nodding his head towards the presents under the green pines. I laughed, which earned a confused stare from Harry. I shook my head, still smiling like an idiot.

"She probably knitted you a red sweater with a huge gold 'H' in the middle of the chest, since she usually does that sort of thing with all of us." Harry's face light up as I mentioned all of this. I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Trust me, after you've been getting those things for thirteen years, you get sick of 'em."

I glanced over at Harry, who was now looking at me with some sort of sadness unhidden on his face, his eyes turned in my direction but far away at the same time. My laughter immediately stopped and was replaced with an awkward embarrassment. I scratched the side of my nose and averted my eyes, looking at that stupid Christmas tree again.

"You know," Harry said softly, in sort of a half whisper. I looked towards his feet, since something in me said that looking at his face would be unbearable right now. "My Aunt and Uncle never really got me anything for Christmas, or any holiday for that matter. Usually I just got old stuff the Dudley didn't want anymore. So, I think a hand-made sweater with a golden 'H' on it is the best gift I've ever gotten, besides the cloak."

Harry laughed a little, which caused me to look up at his face. He had this smile on his lips that didn't quite reach his eyes, which seemed so strange to me since smiles usually come with happy eyes. Harry's eyes just seemed so _sad_ and distant and like they held all sorts of wisdom about magic and the like, I couldn't help but stare at his bright, green eyes with wonder.

Suddenly, I felt really freaking embarrassed. I mean, Harry and I are just sitting in the dark, alone, staring at each other. On Christmas Eve. Awkward.

"U-uh, so, yeah," I smoothly said. I could feel my ears beginning to turn red. Harry seemed to have been shaken from his 'sad spell', and he was lightly blushing, too. I nervously laughed while standing up from my chair, stretching. "We should probably be gettin' to bed soon, big day with Christmas and al tomorrow."

Harry nodded, standing up and stretching too. He looked at me and smiled, which is usually what we did when awkward situations like these happened between us would happen, which was more often than people thought.

We quietly headed toward the staircase and I honestly don't know what I was whispering to Harry about (probably Quidditch or something), and I stepped onto the first squeaky step of the long staircase when I noticed Harry wasn't following. Confused, I turned my head around, looking back at him. Harry's face was deep red and his eyes were wide, staring at me.

"What?" I asked, crinkling my eyebrows a little. "Did you see the grim?" I said with a laugh, fully turning around to face him.

Harry shook his head slowly, his eyes still wide. I tilted my head to the side, still thoroughly confused at his actions. He pointed at the ceiling above my head and I followed his finger, groaning when my eyes laid sight on it.

Right above my head was mistletoe, all nice and bright and green and white with a stupid red bow. I groaned, remembering my mum had put a charm on it so that whoever didn't kiss the other person would have their bedroom door locked. I know because I had tried to get out of it with Ginny and was locked out of my room for a whole day.

I sighed, leading against the railing. "C'mere Harry, I'm going to kiss you on the cheek." Harry seemed startled by this, so I quickly explained the charm. He nodded his head, slowly ascending the couple of steps before me, his eyes never meeting mine.

_Okay,_ I thought, _take a deep breath. You're only kissing your best friend on the cheek so that you can get in your room. No big deal, it's totally not into blokes and you're totally not a fairy. Just get it over with so that you guys can sleep and forget about all this._

I cleared my throat for what seemed the thousandth time that night and bent my face closer to Harry's, since he was on the step below me. His eyes were still wide open, which was really creepy, so I just took his face in my hands and closed my eyes, bringing my lips to his cheek.

The second my lips touched his cheek, the whole world seemed to shift forward in a dizzy way, making it hard for me to keep balance. I heard Harry gasp a little and could feel his skin heat up under my hands. Even though it was just a kiss on the cheek, I felt my entire body react and could feel Harry reacting too.

I pulled my face away from Harry's, still holding onto his cheeks and blushing like mad. My green-eyed friend had closed his eyes at some point, but I could tell from his face that his mind was off somewhere else

"Harry," I said in a husky whisper that I didn't know I was capable of. Harry opened his eyes a little, his pupils dilated and his eyes glossed over. "I'm going to kiss you now, is that okay?" My ears grew redder at my boldness, especially since I didn't know if Harry even _wanted _me to kiss him in the first place, but my heart sped up when Harry nodded his head 'yes', and I leaned in.

Our lips touched and the world seemed perfect. The grim and Snape and Voldemort and dementors just melted away and all that was left were Harry's lips on mine and his cheeks in my hands. Everything was perfect, just for that moment, under the mistletoe inside the Burrow.

Even though I didn't want too, we eventually had to pull away from each other. Harry's hair was more mussed up than usual and his glasses were askew and I still held on to his face. Harry opened his eyes after a minute, looking directly at me.

"I take it back."

The blood seemed to drain from my face and the skin on my arms felt all prickly, as if someone was dragging a stinging nettle across it. My head tilted slightly as I stared intently at Harry, my eyes questioning, since my throat felt so tight with panic.

Harry smiled. "I take it back – this is the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten."

I exhaled and kissed Harry again and again and again and then we quickly made our way up to my room, where I kissed my best friend some more.

Best. Christmas. Ever.

**[][][][]**

**A/N: **OHHOLYSHIT! This ended up waaaaay longer than I thought it was going to be. Those of you who read it, thank you so very much, you should review too (:

Seriously, thank you all and I sincerely hope you have a Merry Christmas and a magical New Year!

**With love, ~xxignoredxx**


End file.
